THE PASSION-FLOWER. 
347 
plant, is furnished with the organs of elabo- 
ration (leaves), and is also stored with organ- 
ized matter, resulting from the action of the 
leaves, which are either present, as in the 
case of evergreen plants, or have been present 
at a previous period, as in deciduous plants ; 
Passiflora kermcsina. 
such being the case, the organized matter in 
the cutting takes and keeps the preponderat- 
ing influence, and the materials for developing 
flowers are sooner within the reach of the 
plants, and become subjected to the influences 
under which the plant is placed. By the 
same rule, plants raised by the process of 
layering, would be more fully furnished, at a 
given size, with organized matter than seed- 
ling plants, though less so than cuttings ; and 
in the same ratio they would, under favourable 
circumstances, be influenced as to their produc- 
tion of flowers. Grafting, or inarching, would 
have one of two influences, according to the 
circumstances ; if grafting near the root, on a 
free-growing stem, so as to take the place of 
its branches, then the preponderating influ- 
ence of the root would send up a quantity of 
unorganized and crude sap, which would 
induce growth, but not bloom ; if, on the 
other hand, a portion of any kind were grafted 
among the branches of the free-growing stem, 
it would share with them a portion of the 
organized sap, which it would appropriate, 
and thus sooner arrive at a flowering state. 
In seedling plants, during a portion of their 
younger days, the influence of the root is pre- 
dominant, causing the necessary growth and 
extension of the plant, clothing it duly with 
foliage, and thus providing the means whereby 
the sap is to be elaborated and organized, 
previously'to its expenditure in the produc- 
tion of flowers. Thus, each method of pro- 
pagation will be seen to have some peculiar 
and appi'opriate application. 
CULTURE. 
In the general features of their cultivation, 
the stove and green-house species assimilate 
very closely. They require a free, open, 
loamy soil, more or less enriched, according 
as it may be desirable to induce or retard 
their growth. For the same reasons, the size 
of the pots, or of the area within which their 
roots are confined, may be allowed to vary. 
Generally, the most appropriate places for 
them, are, to run up the rafters, or over the 
roof of the house, or to cover trellis-work on 
the back or end walls. In any of these situa- 
tions, there will be sufficient space for the 
almost unlimited extension of the branches, 
and therefore a proportionate degree of en- 
couragement must be afforded at the root. 
When required only to extend over a more 
circumscribed area, the supply of the means 
of growth must be cut short, both in quantity 
and quality ; less highly-enriched compost 
must be employed, and smaller-sized pots 
adopted. This presents us with another 
example in which the principle of adaptation 
should be kept steadily in view. 
There are certain minutiae which are required 
no less by these than by all other plants cul- 
tivated under similar circumstances ; such as, 
the proper and efficient drainage of the soil, 
the necessary application of water, the regula- 
tion of heat, and the interchange of atmo- 
spheric influences. These are routine matters, 
?assifiora actini 
which need not to be enlarged upon, but 
which furnish, each of them, materials for 
applying the same principle of adaptation, to 
which reference has been previously made. 
